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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. tear — from crying
  3. land — ground
  4. squash — to crush
  5. spring — a coil
  6. squash — the sport
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. firm — decided
  10. firm — a company
  11. present — the time now
  12. tear — to rip
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. present — a gift
  16. wound — an injury
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. firm — steady
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wound — an injury
  23. present — there
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com